St. John the Baptist rediscovered

The exhibition has been planned around the presentation to the public of St. John the Baptist, a masterpiece by Annibale Carracci (Bologne 1560 - Rome 1609) after over three centuries in which its whereabouts were unknown.

The canvas, part of a private collection, was rediscovered only recently: a study by the distinguished English art historian and collector Sir Denis Mahon has demonstrated that it is in fact by the grat Bolognese artist.

It was here on the Capitoline hill (in the office of the Mayor, to be precise) that Sir Denis Mahon, just 50 years ago, made one of his first brilliant discoveries: Caravaggio's St. John the Baptist, which had, up to then, been considered a copy.

Annibale Carracci's St. John the Baptist according to the description that has come down to us from the celebrated 17th century connoisseur Giovanni Pietro Bellori - depicts "... the figure of St. John in natural colours as a youth in the desert, who, seated on the ground, upon a tiger's skin, holds a cross made of reeds with one hand and with the other indicates Christ, and the gesture is most opportune, since, while he is seen in profile, he turns his face foward, as a red cloth is falling from his shoulder".

On the basis of this remarkably precise and unambiguous description it was possible to identify the painting. Some valuable evidence and stylistic comparison suggest that it can be dated to shortly before the artist's death. The work, with its geat dynamic force, also serves to re-establish Annibale's mastery during this last period, which mastery had been called into question by the widespread opinion that his nervous disorder had then prevented him from producing any independent work.

Next to the St. John the Baptist are two paintigs by Annibale Carracci that should be assigned to the same period: an unknown Infant St. John Asleep and a Holy Family from the Borghese Gallery, now publicly displayed for the first time since its recent restoration. Both canvasses feature, albeit in different attitudes, the figure of a sleeping infant, borrowed from classical models.